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Beyond Bars - Are Prisons cost-effective? |
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This fact sheet examines how much is spent on the prison system in New South Wales and how effective imprisonment is as compared to other options for responding to crime.
In examining the costs of imprisonment, it is important to consider both tangible or monetary costs (including the costs of building, maintaining and running prisons) as well as hidden costs (including psychological trauma, the impacts of other family members and impacts on employment and housing). Of course, many of these non-monetary factors also have an economic cost in the long term but these are more difficult to measure.
What are the tangible costs of imprisonment?
The cost of running the NSW prison system is over $530 million per
year, up from $341 million in 1995-96. This works out to be about $80
each year for every person in New South Wales. In addition to these
costs, the Government spends around $90 million per year on building
and maintaining prisons, up from $49 million in 1995-96.
When the daily costs of various sentencing options are compared, it is easy to see that imprisonment is the most costly of all.
Penalty Cost per day ($A)) Information Source
Imprisonment, females
223.03
Bureau of crime statistics and research, (L15) NSW Drug Court Evaluation. (2002).
Imprisonment, males
170.82
Bureau of crime statistics and research, (L15) NSW Drug Court Evaluation. (2002).
Imprisonment, high security
182.59
Bureau of crime statistics and research, (B73) The impact of abolishing short prison sentences. (2002)
Imprisonment, medium security
160.06
Bureau of crime statistics and research, (B73) The impact of abolishing short prison sentences. (2002)
Imprisonment, minimum security
138.93 - 144.67
Bureau of crime statistics and research, (B73) The impact of abolishing
short prison sentences. (2002) and Department of Corrective Services
in Select Committee Report (2001)
Imprisonment, average offender
160.00
Second Report of the Inquiry into Crime Prevention Through Social Support. (2000)
Imprisonment, short sentence (six months or less)
154.27
Bureau of crime statistics and research, (B73) The impact of abolishing short prison sentences. (2002)
Drug Court
144.00
Bureau of crime statistics and research, (L15) NSW Drug Court Evaluation. (2002).
Periodic Detention
119.63
Bureau of crime statistics and research, (L15) NSW Drug Court Evaluation. (2002).
Home Detention
56.43 - 59.00
Briefing Paper on the No New Womens Prison Campaign and Prison Costs,
and Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (L15) NSW Drug Court
Evaluation
Probation and Parole, general
8.63
Select committee on the increase in prisoner population. (2001)
Parole
5.40
Briefing Paper on the No New Womens Prison Campaign and Prison Costs
Probation
3.95
Briefing Paper on the No New Womens Prison Campaign and Prison Costs
Community service order
3.50-5.50
Second Report of the Inquiry into Crime Prevention Through Social Support. (2000)
(as above)
2.63
Bureau of crime statistics and research, (L15) NSW Drug Court Evaluation. (2002).
These figures do not include the one-off establishment costs to get
schemes up and running, which are, of course, higher for prisons than
for other options.
The sentencing alternatives listed above are explained in more detail
in the Beyond Bars fact sheet on Alternatives to Custody. Many of
these alternatives are more effective at reducing and preventing
re-offending. They deserve particular consideration for minor
offenders on short sentences. If alternatives to prison were used
instead of prison sentences of under six months, NSW could be saved
around $50 million a year.
What are some of the hidden costs of imprisonment?
The intangible costs of imprisonment are more difficult to calculate,
but must be considered in any cost analysis. Impacts such as the loss
of housing, difficulty in finding work and poorer health not only
impact on the wellbeing of ex-prisoners; they also contribute to the
likelihood of reoffending. There is substantial evidence to suggest
that rather than reducing offending behaviour, for the majority of
people, prison in fact creates new problems which increase the
likelihood of re-offending.
Loss of Housing
Many people lose housing as a consequence of their contact with the
criminal justice system, meaning that many ex-prisoners become homeless
on release from custody. Most ex-prisoners and recidivists who
return to prison claim that a lack of suitable housing is one of the
main reasons why they end up back in gaol, yet public housing in NSW
has no special provisions for ex-prisoners.
Health
The incidence of drug related deaths and suicide is abnormally high for
recently released prisoners especially women. This is one indicator of
the failure of our prison system to address the health needs of
inmates.
For people who enter prison with the need for detoxification and
rehabilitation, prison is often ineffective. Poor resourcing of drug
and alcohol programs, the availability of drugs in prison, boredom, the
stress of daily prison life, as well as the absence of community and
family support, can make stopping drug use very difficult. There are
many inmates whose drug use worsens while they are inside. For others,
prison may be the first time that they use illicit drugs.
Prison is a harsh and often brutal environment. Intimidation, rape,
violence, self-harm and suicide are common occurrences in NSW prisons.
For those offenders with mental and intellectual disabilities this
atmosphere is particularly difficult. For some offenders new mental
health problems such as depression and paranoia arise in response to
the brutality of the prison system.
The level of mental health problems and disorders is 3 to 4 times
higher among inmates than that of the general Australian population.
People frequently leave prison traumatised, depressed and angry. This
is not a useful starting point for those who wish to make a fresh
start. (See the Beyond Bars fact sheet on mental health for more
information on these issues.)
Prison also generates physical health costs. For example, prisoners
are at very high risk of acquiring hepatitis C whilst in custody
because of the prevalence of drugs and the absence of safe injecting
equipment.
Employment and Esteem Post Release
Those offenders who experience prison are frequently burdened by the
stigma attached to being an 'ex-con.' Their employment prospects are
often severely and sometimes permanently damaged.
In addition to this stigma, a period of imprisonment can make already
dislocated and marginalised people feel even more alienated from the
broader community and can weaken personal identity, confidence and
motivation.
This exclusion from the workforce and from community life heighten the
risk of social isolation and poverty, which in turn significantly
increase the risk of re-offending.
The Separation of Families and Children.
The family dislocation caused by imprisonment has obvious social and
emotional costs, including increased risks of family break-ups and
disruption for children. Children may have to relocate or enter the
care of the state. Some studies have shown that children of prisoners
are much less likely to complete secondary school, more likely to be
come homeless unemployed and more likely to come into contact with the
juvenile justice or criminal justice system. Of course, these impacts
also have economic costs for the community.
Family dislocation also has an impact on the likelihood of
re-offending, as indicated in evidence to the NSW upper house inquiry
into children of prisoners:
"Although the literature on controlling or reducing recidivism is
dismal, the little literature that there is suggests that maintaining
community ties is absolutely essential in maintaining the bond between
the prisoner and his family
these bonds are central to any attempt to
try and reduce recidivism". (evidence of D Weatherburn, Bureau of Crime
Statistics & Research)
The Increased Likelihood of Crime as a result of Imprisonment.
As indicated above, prison has many negative effects that can influence
the risk of re-offending. Because of the many damaging effects of
imprisonment, it could be argued that incarceration in fact increases
the chances of many offenders committing further crimes upon release.
Crime itself is costly in many ways tangible monetary ways. Besides
obvious costs such as damage to property, costs also include the
expense of building new prisons, increased insurance premiums and
hidden costs such as the increase in community fear and the break down
in community cohesion.
Conclusions
In summary, prisons are expensive to build, maintain and operate but
they also have intangible costs for prisoners and communities. Perhaps
most importantly, these costs can increase the likelihood of
re-offending, making prison a questionable and costly means of
responding to many forms of crime.
If less money was spent on prisons, in favour of expenditure on health,
housing and community services, we could expect to have a greater
impact on crime in the long term. As recognised in a fact sheet
recently published by the Department of Community Services, one 27-year
US study showed that for every $1 invested in services to help families
with young children, $4 was saved within three years on child
protection, health, education and justice systems. By the time the
children were adults, $7 had been saved.
It is time for New South Wales to respond to the weight of this evidence.
References
Anderson, T. (October 1996). The Home Detention Experiment. Framed, Quarterly magazine of justice action, i31.
Babcock, J.C. & Steiner, R. (March 1999). The Relationship
Between Treatment, Incarceration and Recidivism of Battering: A Program
Evaluation of Seattle's Coordinated Response to Domestic Violence.
Journal of Family Psychology, v13. i1, pp46-59.
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Chisholm, J. (Feb. 2000). Australian Institute of Criminology.
Benefit-Cost Analysis and Crime Prevention. Trends and Issues in crime
and criminal justice, no.147.
Donato, R. & Shanahan, M. (Nov. 1999.) Australian Institute of
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Ellis, T. & Marshall, P. (2000). Does Parole Work? A Post-release
Comparison of Reconviction Rates for Paroled and Non-Paroeld
Prisoners. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, v33,
no.3, pp.300-317.
Figgis, H. (1996). The Home Detention Bill 1996: Commentary and
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Service: Sydney.
Gittens, R (2002) The Flag Fall For Her Majestys Guests, in Sydney Morning Herald, 30/Oct/02
Law Reform Commission Publications (2000). Sentencing Aboriginal Offenders. Report 96 part 6 (female offenders.)
Lind, B. & Eyland, S. (August 2002.) The Impact of Abolishing
Short Prison Sentences. (B73). Bureau of Crime Statistics and
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NSW Health Department, Drug Update (May 2001) www.health.nsw.gov.au/public_health/dpb/publications/pdf/Drug_update.pdf
Ogilvie, E. (October 2001.) Post-Release: The Current Predicament
and the Potential Strategies. Criminology Research Council.
Piehl, A.M., Useem, B. & DiIulio, J.J. (Sep. 1999). Right-Sizing
Justice: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Imprisonment in Three States.
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Report on Government Services 2002 section on Corrective Services. Www.pc.gov.au//qsp/2002/attachment10.pdf
Social Issues Committee, Legislative Council (July 1997) A Report into Children of Imprisoned Parents
Second Report of the Inquiry into Crime Prevention Through Social Support.
Standing Committee on Law and Justice. (March 1999). Inquiry into Crime Prevention through Social Support.
Totaro, P (2003), Scaring up the Votes, Sydney Morning Herald, 27/Jan/03
Wilson, D.B., Gallagher, C.A. & Mackenzie, D.L. (Nov. 2000). A
meta-analysis of Corrections-Based Education, Vocation and Work
Programs for Adult Offenders. The Journal of Research in Crime and
Delinquency. v37, i4, pp.347-68.
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Introduction 
